Excavating-machine.



PATENTED DEC. 13, 1904.

No. 777,204.. I

J. HELM.

EXGAVATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED-TAN. 19, 1904.

N0 MODEL- 2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

I Inventor: M

Witnesses. I 4

I By g Attorneys.

N0 MODEL.

FEEEE Witnesses:

PATENI'ED DEC. 13, 1904. J. HELM.

EXGAVATING MACHINE.

APPLIGATION IILEDJAN,19,1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Inventor:

Attorneys Patented December 13. 1904.

PATENT OEEIcE.

JOHN HELM, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

EXCAVATING-IVIACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 777,204, dated December13, 1904. Application filed January 19, 1904- Serial No. 189,681. (Nomodel.)

To ctZl whom it 'n'tay concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN H ELM, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of the city of St. Louis, and State of Missouri, have inventeda new and useful Improvement in Excavating- Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to excavating ma chines, and especially toeXcavating-machines for cutting trenches; and its principal objects areto simultaneously dislodge the earth through which a trench is to be cutand carry it away, to provide a machine capable of use in cuttingtrenches of varying depth without detaching or adding parts, to providea machine that automatically raises and lowers the 'dislodgingmechanismas the earth is dislodged,

to provide a machine capable of operation both during the ascent anddescent of the dislodging mechanism, and other objects hereinafter morefully appearing.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, andwherein like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur, Figure 1is a side view of my trench-cutting machine in position. Fig. 2 is aView of the dislodging mechanism and the frame. Fig. 3 is a fragmentarydetail of the adjustable sprocketframe for the primary conveyor. Fig. 4is a fragmentary section on the lined at of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is ahorizontal sectional view through the lower end of the conveyor. Fig. 6is a fragmentary View upon the line 6 6 of Fig. 2 of the drawings, partsbelow the trunnions being omitted.

A railway 1 is laid along the course of the trench to be cut. Upon thisruns a wheeled truck 2, having upon one end a platform 3 and on theother end a frame 4 for the dislodging mechanism 5 and conveyingmechanism 6. An upright steam-boiler 7 and engine 8 are arranged uponthe platform 3. The engine 8 is provided to drive the truck 2 and theconveying mechanism 6. A sprocket-wheel 9 is mounted on the shaft of theengine 8 to cooperate with a clutch thereon. A second sprocket-wheel 1.0is mounted on one axle of the truck 2, and the two sprockets areconnected by a sprocketchain 11.

Upon the upper beam 12 of the frame 4 are bearings 13. In these bearingsare journaled trunnions let upon a guide-frame 15 for thedislodging-mechanism frame. The said guideframe 15 consists of channeledside bars 16 and tie-bars 17. The dislodging-mechanism frame consists ofthe side bars 18, tie-bars 19, and brace-bars 20. Thus the dislodgingmechanism is mounted for both reciprocating and oscillating movement. Aspring 21 is connected at one end to the truck 2 and at the other end tothe guide-frame 15 and tends to hold the dislodging mechanism 5 in asubstantially vertical position and up to its work.

Plates 22 are mounted upon the lower ends of the side bars 18 to providebearings for the rotating parts of the dislodging mechanism. On thelower ends of the plates 22 a cuttingshaft 23 is journaled, to which asprocketwheel 24: and cutters 25 are rigidly secured. The cutters areeach eight-pointed, the points being arranged in pairs arranged atanglesof ninety degrees to each other and the points of each pair extending inopposite directions. A cutter is thus provided that is equally efficientfor-either direction of rotation. Above the cutters a crankshaft 26 isjonrnaled in the plates 22, upon which is mounted a sprocketwheel 27,connected with the sprocket-wheel 24 on the cutter-shaft by asprocket-chain 28. An engine 2.) of any desired type is mounted on theframe and connected with the crankshaft 26. The engine may be reversed,and thus the cutters may be driven in either direction. A flexiblesteam-pipe 29 connects the engine with the boiler 7.

A drum 29 is journaled in the plates 22 near the crank-shaft 26.Gear-wheels 3O 31 are mounted on the crank-shaft 26 and drumjournal,respectively, and mesh with each other. A frame 32 is mounted on thebeams 12 of the frame 4 and supports a manuallyoperated winding-drum 33.A rope or cable 34 connects the two winding-drums 29 33. When themachine is in operation, the winding-drum 33 is locked against rotationand acts simply as an anchor for the rope 34. The winding-drum 29" is.however, rotated simultaneously with the cutters 25, and thus thedislodging mechanism is gradually raised or lowered as the earth isremoved in the path of the cutters. The manually-operable drum 33 isprovided so that the frame may be raised and lowered at times when theengine is not running. The gearing between the crank-shaft 26 and drum29 and cuttershaft 23, respectively, is such that the cutters rotate inopposite directions during the ascent and descent of the dislodgingmechanism.

Guide-bars 36 project rearwardly fromthe plates 22 and slidingly supportan apron 37. Ears 38 are provided at the upper end of the apron 37 toprevent its passing through the guides. When the dislodging mechanism israised, the apron slides down until the ears rest upon the top bar 35.The earth dislodged by the cutters strikes upon the apron 37 and fallsto the bottom of the trench instead of being thrown into the conveyerand fouling the conveyer chain and frame.

The primary conveyer is mounted so as to be vertically and angularlyadjustable. Bearings 39 are mounted on the top beams 12 of the frame 4.A guide-frame 40, of a construction similar to the guide-frame 15, hastrunnions 41 journaled in the said bearings 39. In the guide-frame thereis mounted a conveyer-frame 42, constructed like thedislodging-mechanism frame except that it is provided with bearings atits ends. At the bottom it is provided with forwardly-extending flaringplates 43, which direct the loosened earth inwardly. 1n the bearingsshafts 44 45 are mounted, carrying sprocket-wheels 46 47, upon which runthe conveyer-chains 48, supporting the buckets 49. A shaft 50 is mountedin bearings 51 upon the bottom beam 52 of the frame 4. At the outer endof this shaft two sprocket-wheels 53 54 are mounted. The sprocket wheel53 is connected with a sprocket wheel 55 on the engine-shaft by means ofa sprocket-chain 56. Intermediate the bearings two sprockets 57 57 andbars 58.

58 are mounted, the former rigidly, the latter loosely. 1n the upper andlower ends of the bars 58 shafts 59 60, bearing sprocketwheels 61 62,respectively, are journaled. The conveyer-chains 48 pass down in frontof the sprockets 61, around behind the sprockets 57 and down in front ofthe sprockets 62. Thus a driving mechanism is provided which will changeinclination with change of inclination of the conveyer-frame 42,theframe for the driving-sprockets being pivoted in the bearings 51, asdescribed above. The conveyerframe is raised and lowered by means ofarope or cable 63, which is attached to the lower end of theconveyer-frame 42 and to a manually-operable winding-drum 64. A link 65is pivotally mounted at the top of the conveyer-frame 42.

A rope 66 is connected to said link 65, drawn taut and secured to a T 67on the beam 12. By means of the two ropes 63 66 the conveyorframe 42 isheld in position. A fixed spillapron 68 is secured to the top of theconveyerframe 42. Asecond spill-apron 69, which is 10- cated below thefixed spill=apron 68,is pivotall y connected to the conveyer-frame atone end and slidably engages a horizontal bar of the distributingconveyer-frame at its other end. The primary conveyer 6 always restsupon the bottom of the trench. The means for vertical adjustment isprovided so that the machine may be used to cut trenches of varyingdepths without any necessity for the addition or removal of parts.

A distributing-conveyer 70 is arranged to receive the materialdischarged from the primary conveyor 6. It is driven by means of asprocket-wheel 71 and sprocket-chain 72 from the sprocket 54 describedabove. This conveyer may lead back to a part of the trench that is readyto be filled up or toa dump, as desired.

Obviously the machine admits of considerable modification within thescope of my invention, and therefore I do not wish to be limited to thespecific construction shown and described. WVhile sprocket-and-chaintransmission-trains have been shown, it is obvious that any other formof transmission-train could be substituted.

hat I claim is-- 1. An excavating machine comprising a frame,dislodgingmechanism pivotally mounted in said frame, and means to yieldingly holdsaid dislodging mechanism to its work.

2. An excavating machine comprising a frame, a guide-frame pivotallymounted therein, and dislodging mechanism reciprocatingly mounted insaid guide-frame.

3. An excavating mechanism comprising a frame, a guide-frame pivotallymounted therein, a spring yieldingly connecting said frames to hold saidguide-framein a substantially vertical position, and dislodgingmechanism reciprocatingly mounted in said guide-frame.

4. An excavating-machine comprising a frame, dislodging mechanismpivotally and reciprocatingly mounted in said frame, means toautomatically reciprocate said dislodging mechanism when said dislodgingmechanism is actuated, and means to yieldingly hold said dislodgingmechanism to its work.

5. An excavating-machine comprising a frame, dislodging mechanismreciprocatingly mounted therein and comprising rotary cutters and meansto rotate said cutters, and means to simultaneously reciprocate saiddislodging mechanism.

6. An excavating-machine comprising a frame, dislodging mechanismreciprocatingly mounted in said frame and comprising reversible rotarycutters and means to rotate said cutters, and means to simultaneouslyreciprocate said dislodging mechanism, said means being arranged toautomaticallyreciprocate said dislodging means in opposite directionsfor opposite directions of rotation of said cutters.

7. An excavatingmachine comprising a frame, dislodging mechanismreciprocatingly mounted therein and provided with a frame and actuatingmeans thereon, a winding-drum on said dislodging-mechanism frameoperativel y connected to said actuating means tl1ereon, amanually-operable winding-drum on said frame, and a rope attached at itsoppo site ends to said drums.

8. An excavating-machine comprising a frame, dislodging mechanismmounted therein, and conveying mechanism comprising a conveyer-frame andan endless conveyer thereon, said conveyer-frame being reciprocatinglymounted in said frame.

9. An excavating-machine comprising a frame, dislodging mechanismmounted there in and provided with reversible rotary cutters andconveying mechanism arranged to convey away material dislodged by saidoutters and reciprocatingly mounted in said frame.

10. An excavating-machine comprising a frame, a motor thereon, conveyingmechanism comprising a conveyer-frame and an endless conveyer thereon,said conveyer-frame being reciprocatingly and pivotally mounted on saidframe, and means operatively connecting said motor and conveyer in allpositions of the latter.

11. An excavating-machine comprising a frame, a guide-frame pivotallymounted therein, a conveyor reciprocatingly mounted in said guide-frameand provided with a conveyerchain, and a sprocket-frame pivotallymounted on said frame and provided with sprockets for saidconveyer-chain.

152. An cXca-vating-machine comprising a frame, a conveyorreciprocatingly and pivotally mounted therein and provided with. a frameand forwardly-extending flaring plates at the bottom of said frame toturn the material to be conveyed inwardly.

13. An eXcavating-machine comprising d islodging mechanism provided witha rotary cutter having a plurality of teeth with oppositely-extendingcutting edges whereby the cutter may be rotated in either direction.

14. An excavating-machine comprising a frame, a guide-frame pivotallymounted therein, dislodging mechanism reciprocatingly mounted in saidguide-frame and provided with actuating means, means to raise and lowersaid dislodging mechanism operatively connected to said actuating means,a second guideframe pivotally mounted in said frame, a conveyerreciprocatingly mounted. in said secondmentioned guide-frame andarranged in position to convey away the material dislodged by saiddislodging mechanism.

Signed at St. Louis, Missouri, this 12th day of January, 1904.

JOHN HELM. Witnesses:

WM. P. CARR, J. B. MneowN.

